


Dissonance

by suburban_scum



Category: Greek Mythology
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Alcoholism, Bad Guy Ares, Cheating, Cheating ex boyfriend, Domestic Violence, F/M, Hades is a Virgin, Hurt Persephone, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, Mutual Pining, New York City, Overprotective Hades, Tom Hiddleston as Hades
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-03-07 07:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18868690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suburban_scum/pseuds/suburban_scum
Summary: (A Modern Retelling of the Story Of Persephone and Hades) A cheating ex boyfriend, a brash new lover, and a hopeless crush. After moving from the solidarity of living in a meadowland with her mother to the bustling streets of New York City, Persephone’s world is flipped upside down. Headaches, heartbreaks, and a decision that could change her life for the rest of eternity.





	1. Chapter One

“Artemis,” Persephone sighs, struggling to keep the short black dress she was wearing from riding up. “Don’t you think this is just a little flashy for a house party?” 

“First of all, it’s not just a normal house party. This is a party for Olympus’ A-Listers and you should be excited that we even got invited!” Artemis replies, leaning over the sink toward the mirror to apply her lipstick. “And no, a little black dress is the furthest thing from flashy that I can think of. Besides Persephone, you’re a goddess. It’s time for you to start acting like one.”

Persephone crosses her arms. “You sound just like my mother.”

“Look,” Artemis says, turning to face her meek best friend. “If Demeter had any idea we were going to this party, she’d fucking kill us both. But I’m just looking out for you, you deserve to get out there and have a little fun every once in a while. Maybe meet some new people. Change your reclusive ways.”

Despite wanting to tell Artemis that they had two very vastly different ideas of fun, she just didn’t have the heart to say no to her. “Maybe you’re right.” she says softly. 

“Atta girl!” Artemis exclaims.

After an hour or so of fussing over her makeup, Artemis was finally ready to go. “Alright, let’s head downstairs. Our ride is here.” The two exit their shared apartment and head into the elevator.

“Okay,” Artemis says softly. “You have to promise not to be upset with me.”

Persephone raises an eyebrow. “Upset? Why would I be upset-“ The elevator doors open to reveal a large grinning man seated in the lobby. It was Artemis’ older brother Apollo. Persephone’s first kiss, her first love. Upset didn’t even begin to cover it. She forced a smile anyway and a weak wave. 

“Heya Seph,” Apollo says happily. He was tall, muscular, and jaw droppingly handsome. He made Persephone weak in the knees.

“Hi.” she says softly, following Artemis as she exits the elevator. “Long time no see.” 

“You could say that again,” says Apollo, draping his muscular arm around Persephone’s thin shoulders. “You look fantastic.”

“Look, Apollo,” she says, ducking out from under Apollo’s arm. “I’m only going to this party because your sister asked me to. I didn’t even know you were going to be here. Just keep your distance, okay? Let’s not forget why our relationship ended.”

“Okay, Persephone.” he says. His saddened expression tugged roughly on her heartstrings and she fought the urge to thrust herself back into his arms. But he had hurt her, a whole different kind of brutal pain that enveloped Persephone’s sweet heart for years. She never understood the sheer ache and inescapable feeling of utter emptiness of being cheated on until it happened to her. She vowed never to be taken advantage of like that ever again. 

“Let’s head out to the car.” Artemis suggests weakly. 

The ride to the party would have been dead silent and probably painfully awkward if it hadn’t been for the loud rap music that Apollo had always loved to blare at full volume. She used to hate it, but now she found herself thankful. Gods bless 21 Savage. 

When the trio had arrived, the large apartment building was flooded with expensive cars. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Jaguars, Rolls Royce. The taste of the Gods had always been obnoxiously expensive. 

“So, where are we going?” Persephone asks, shutting the door of Apollo’s car.

“Penthouse.” Her ex-lover says, complete with a pitiful glance in her direction. She quickly decided against her own character, that she wasn’t going to get blasted drunk tonight. Because if he looked at her like that while she was drunk? She’d never be able to muster up the ability to continue being mad at him. She would just tumble back into his arms like she always used to do. 

The three enter the apartment building with ease, piling into another elevator. Artemis pushes the button labeled ‘Penthouse’ with vigor.

“Stoked much?” Persephone laughs. 

“I’ve never been to a penthouse before!” Artemis answers excitedly. “I also need to get wicked drunk, it’s been awhile.” 

“Jeez, Art.” Apollo says, out of shock. His older sister was never exactly the partying type. He silently wondered what had gotten into her, or what was wrong.

She whirls around to face her younger brother. “Why do you think I brought you?” she asks, poking him firmly in the chest. “Someone’s gotta carry me out of here! Not like Seph can do it.” 

“Hey!” Persephone objects. 

“C’mon, dude, you’re not even five feet tall and you have the structural integrity of a balloon animal.” Artemis laughs. 

Persephone just rolls her eyes. It wasn’t like she could even say anything, Artemis wasn’t wrong. 

Abruptly, the elevator stops and the door rolls open to reveal a massive apartment filled nearly wall to wall with people. The flashing lights and smell of booze in the air filled Persephone with hope. Hope that maybe she just might be able to have fun. 

Artemis somehow found an open table for the three of them to sit at.

“I’m gonna grab us some drinks,” Apollo says, surprisingly audible over the music. “What do you guys want?”

“Just a beer,” Artemis says. “Surprise me!” 

Apollo nods before turning to Persephone. “Gin and tonic, right?”

“Yeah.” she says, fighting off a blush. 

Apollo smiles and walks off in the direction of the bar. Persephone can’t help but let her eyes follow him until he disappears into the crowd.

“He really misses you, Seph.” Artemis says, playing with the hem of her dress. “I’ve never seen him like this before. He can’t eat, he barely sleeps. It’s really bad.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do about it.” Persephone crosses her arms. “He should have thought about that before he stuck his dick in that nymph.” 

Artemis sighs. “He was drunk, Persephone. I’ve never seen him that drunk before and she looked like a shitty bootleg version of you! I imagine he thought it was you!” 

“Is that supposed to be some sort of an excuse?!” Persephone snaps. She sighs and looks up at her best friend. “Look, I’m sorry for getting upset with you. I just can’t talk about this right now. Especially not with him around.” She pauses. “We can talk tomorrow at home. And maybe, maybe I will try to talk to him.”

Artemis’ face lights up and she beams at Persephone. “Okay,” she says excitedly. “Now, I wonder where his goofy ass is with those drinks.”

Like magic, Apollo emerges from the crowd of people with a pint of beer in one hand, and a gin and tonic in the other. 

“Thank you. Where’s yours?” Persephone asks as Apollo sets the drinks down on the table. 

Apollo looks away sheepishly. “I don’t, um, I don’t drink anymore.” 

Persephone’s heart swells. “Oh, good for you.” she answers, ignoring Artemis’ knowing glance. She takes a long sip of her drink. “I think I’m gonna go dance.” she says, dropping down off of her stool. “I’ll see you guys in a bit.” She grabs her drink and disappears into the crowd.

Artemis lets out a low whistle. “The ass on that girl.” 

Apollo puts his head in his hands. “What the hell am I supposed to do, Artemis?” he says quietly. “She can barely even look at me.”

“Calm down, little brother. A mistake so big isn’t so easily mended. However-“ Artemis says, and Apollo perks up. “She said we would talk about it tomorrow.”

Apollo sighs in relief. “Thank you, sister.” he says. “Thank you for cleaning up all of my messes.”

“I’m not doing this for you,” She takes a sip of her beer. “I’m doing this for Persephone. She’ll never admit it, but she’s just as miserable as you are.”

Apollo opens his mouth to reply but shuts it when he notices the muscular brunette approaching their table.

“Artemis,” says Ares. “Where’s that gorgeous little vixen friend of yours?”

“Get lost, helmet head.” she snaps back. “Persephone would want absolutely nothing to do with you.” 

“C’mon, Artemis,” he says. “I just wanna talk with her. She looks frazzled.”

Artemis notices Apollo sink back in his seat. “Yes, because I’m sure you’d do such a wonderful job un-frazzling her.” she replies, lazy and sarcastic. “Just go away, Ares.”

He rolls his eyes and walks away from the table, determined to find Persephone.

Meanwhile, Persephone stood in the bathroom. She took a deep breath and pushed back her hair. “This is okay,” she murmurs to her reflection. “Everything is going to be okay.” She downs her entire drink and sighs. She does her best to put on a brave face before heading back into the party.

“Can I get you a drink?” A tall, lean man asks immediately after she abandoned the bathroom. He pushes back his curly blonde hair. 

She sighs. “Fine, Eros. Gin and tonic, please.” she says. “And do not roofie me.”

“Never,” he winks, spinning around and heading off toward the bar.

Persephone leans up against the wall. “They’re coming out of the woodwork.” she mutters to herself. She knew she sounded like a spoiled little brat, but after she moved from the solidarity of the meadow with her mother to the hustle and bustle of the big city, she was constantly bombarded with the unwanted attention of the male variety. Her mother had warned her about the dangers of men and the inevitable heartbreak that came with them, but Persephone was young and naive. She used to think to herself, surely not all men could be bad. And then Apollo came along and threw her heart into a blender. Her mother was right. She should have stayed home. 

“Here you go, Persephone.” Eros snaps her out of her thoughts. 

“Thank you,” she says, excitedly taking the drink from his hands. She figured she could probably get as drunk as she’d like, as long as she steered clear of Apollo.

“Haven’t seen you at a party in a long time.” Eros says, taking a sip of his own drink. “Where’s your pretty little guard dog?”

At this, Persephone takes a long sip of her own drink. “Apollo cheated on me.” she says flatly. “But he’s over at a table with Artemis.” She nods her head in the general direction of the table.

“Damn, Seph, I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Eros said, silently kicking himself for mentioning him. He should have figured that if Apollo wasn’t at her side like he always is, something probably happened to them. 

“It’s cool, Eros. I’ll see you around.” she says, making her way back to the dancefloor. “Thanks for the drink.” she calls over her shoulder.

Most of the night she found herself on the dance floor. She had always thought she hated dancing, but she was having fun. Or maybe she was just happy to be away from Apollo’s guilty stare. She sipped her drink, smiled or laughed when required but on the inside? On the inside she felt absolutely nothing. She left the dance floor to grab another drink and before she knew it, she found herself standing by the bar lost in thought again. Once she shook herself out of it, she noticed the man standing in front of her.

“Hello,” he says, barely audible over the pounding of the music. “Ditching the crowds, huh?”

“Yeah,” she chuckles, glancing over to the table Artemis and Apollo were sitting at. “I guess you could say that. These big parties have never really been my thing.”

“But somehow you still find yourself at them?”

“I like to drink.” She shrugs. Persephone turns to face him. “Have we met? Or do you know me from somewhere?”

“I’m sure you’ve probably heard of me.” the man chuckles. “My name is Ares.” His name rang in her ears. Ares the great and terrible is just walking up to her at a party? 

“Oh.” she says softly.

He raises an eyebrow. “So do you have a name?”

She swallows the lump that had formed in her throat. “I’m Persephone.”

“Ah yes, the flower girl.” he says. He was trying not to make it too obvious while he admired her body. She was so tiny, with supple medium sized breasts, a slim torso that led down to her extremely small waist and her wide hips. As the mortals would say, she was slim thick. “Great work, really. Absolutely beautiful.”

Her cheeks heat up. She was absolutely dumbfounded. Here she was, conversing with the God of War at a party, probably looking up at him slack jawed and wide eyed like some sort of idiot. 

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you’.” he winks. She felt like her heart was going to sink down into her stomach and fall out of her ass. It was really Ares, in the flesh. Tall, muscular, brunette, and just...gorgeous.

“What’s gorgeous?” he asks with a smirk.

By now she thought she must be beet red. She takes a breath and tries to regain her composure. “Spring,” she answers. “Spring is really gorgeous.”

Ares nods. “At least now I know who to thank.” 

She smiles. 

“So, uh, who’d ya come here with?” he asks. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

Persephone shakes her head. “I came with Artemis and,” She couldn't even say Apollo’s name. “her brother. How about you?”

“It’s my party, silly.” he laughs. 

“Oh my gosh, I had no idea! I’m so sorry I should have said something when I got here! Artemis said it was just one of her friends and they wouldn’t mind if I tagged along, I really am sorry I-“

“Hey, hey, slow down.” Ares says. “Don’t worry about it. We’re cool.”

Persephone takes a deep breath. “Right, right. I just don’t know how to shut up sometimes.”

“Hey, welcome to the club.”

Persephone’s heart fluttered inside of her chest, and for the first time in a very long time, she actually felt something good.

Persephone and Ares spent the rest of the night talking, and over time all of the guests started disappearing one after the next. Artemis and Apollo were the last to leave after Persephone said she was staying a little while longer. Apollo didn’t say anything, shot one last sad glance at Persephone and left. Artemis had simply scowled at Ares, rolled her eyes and left. Then it was just the two of them. They told each other stories, shared opinions, and with the help of some expensive booze they even told each other secrets. He looked at her fondly and could probably call her a friend from now on. But that wasn’t enough for him. He wasn’t sure if it was those big green doe eyes of hers, or if it was her tight dress slinking over her pale skin and gripping her curves in all the right places. Maybe it was her long black hair or the way she tossed it over her shoulder. 

“So listen,” Ares says, suddenly flushed. “Would you like to, uh, stay the night here? We don’t have to share a bed or anything and we could go get breakfast in the morning or I could make breakfast but like I said you don’t need to-“

Persephone presses a gentle finger to his lips. “I would love to stay over.”

Ares takes her small soft hand in his large calloused one and beams. “Are you getting sleepy?”

“Well,” Persephone says, glancing at her phone. “Not really but considering that it’s four in the morning it might be a good idea.”

“You’re right,” Ares agrees. “Well, I can lead you to the guest bedroom or,” He fumbles over his words. “We can share mine.”

“I’m no prude, Ares.” she laughs, standing up and pulling him up onto his feet. “Of course we can share.” 

Ares’ heart was hammering loudly in his chest and he was worried that maybe Persephone could hear it. But nonetheless he grinned and set his drink down, leading Persephone down the hallway and into his bedroom. No one other than Ares had been in his bedroom since years and years ago when he was in the affair with Aphrodite. He had loved her, but had to break it off after she told him she had no plans of divorcing Hephaestus since divorce among the gods was unheard of and ‘completely uncouth’. It took time and effort for Ares to finally get over it and he did the second he saw Persephone. Now here she was looking up at him with those big puppy dog eyes and an arched eyebrow. 

“Sorry, did you say something? I was lost in thought.” Ares asks.

“I don’t mean to be a bother but could I borrow a t-shirt to sleep in?” she asks softly. Little did she know Ares would peel the own skin off of his body for her to sleep in if she asked. “This is Artemis’ dress and I don’t wanna get it all messed up.”

“Yeah, yeah of course.” Ares says, dropping her hand and heading for his closet. He pulls out one of his smaller t-shirts that didn’t really fit him anymore and hands it to her. 

They look at each other for a moment before Persephone bursts out into laughter.

“What?” Ares asks.

“Turn around?” she laughs, making a spinning motion with her pointer finger. 

Ares face heats up as he whirls around to face the other direction. Gods, he was so fucking slow. Of course he should have thought about turning around. Did he think Persephone was just gonna let him watch her change? 

“Okay, all done, silly.” Her voice was turning him into butter. 

He spins back around to find his smallest t-shirt completely dwarfs Persephone, and hangs down past her knees. Her black bra is visible through the white t-shirt. She looked precious. “Jeez, Persephone how tall are you?” he asks softly, trying not to swoon.

She crosses her arms over her chest and juts out her bottom lip. Ares failed. He swoons. “I’m not telling.” she mutters.

“Persephoneeeee,” Ares coos, taking a few steps over to her. “Tell meeeee.” 

She huffs and drops her arms to her side. “Four feet and eleven inches.” 

Ares tries not to awe. “Since you told me, I guess it’s only fair to tell you how tall I am. I’m six foot two.” he says.

She rolls her eyes. “Big tall dummy.” she says teasingly.

“What did you say?” he says jokingly angry. Persephone notices a glint of something in his eyes but before she can determine what it is, Ares has scooped her up into his arms and she can’t stop laughing. “What did you say?” he asks again, tossing Persephone down onto the bed. She’s still laughing as Ares climbs into bed next to her. 

“Ugh,” Persephone sighs. “Why do you have to be so cute?”

Ares flushes and pulls off his dress shirt hoping she doesn’t notice his blush. Afterall, he was the God of War. He wasn’t supposed to blush when gorgeous, short girls called him cute. He can feel Persephone’s eyes burning into him as he pulls off his dress pants and undershirt, leaving him in his boxers. 

“Uh, turn around?” he teases.

Persephone laughs again. “You’re already changed now, goofy. Let’s go to bed.”

Ares turns off the lights and the pair lie under the covers in the dark. The air feels heavy and the room is quiet for a moment.

“Persephone.” Ares whispers in the dark. 

“Yeah?” she whispers back.

“Are you asleep?” he asks. He hears her stifle a laugh.

“No,” she replies. “Are you?” 

Ares actually laughs. “No.” 

Ares can feel her scoot closer to him until she’s curled up against his side. “Do you wanna snuggle?” she asks.

“You gotta work on your timing-“ He’s cut off by Persephone swinging her left leg over him and coming up to sit on his lower stomach, straddling him. Persephone had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She had no idea why she was acting like this but it felt good. 

“Hi, Ares.” she says softly. The light from the street shone in through the curtains just enough so Ares could see her clearly. She had the slightest bit of a pout on her big pink lips. Her hair was down cascading down her sides and back, draping over Ares’ sides and giving him goosebumps.

“Hi, Persephone.” he replies. She lays down, her tiny thin torso on top of his large muscular one. She rests her chin on the back of her hands, her face a few mere inches from his. He cautiously brings his his hands up to run them up and down her sides, testing the waters. When she hums in contentment, he grabs her hips gently. And then they fell asleep.


	2. Chapter Two

Persephone woke up late and alone the next morning. The clock on Ares’ bedside table read 11:48am. She hadn’t woken up that late in a long time. Demeter had always woken her up at the crack of dawn and the habit stuck until now. She sat up in bed and stretched, ignoring the pounding hangover inside of her head. She decided to stop for a drink on her way home after she left Ares’ house to nurse her hangover. Oh fuck, Ares! She shuffled out of bed and out of the bedroom down the hallway. She could smell food and began to walk faster. She rounds the corner to find Ares in the kitchen, making breakfast.

“Y’know, I was beginning to think you weren’t going to wake up.” Ares laughs. “Cute bedhead, by the way.”

Persephone narrows her eyes. “I could say the same to you, pretty boy.” She struggles just the tiniest bit to get up onto one of the stools in front of the breakfast bar.

“Orange juice?” Ares asks.

“How about gin?” she replies, rubbing her temples with her fingertips.

Ares chuckles. “I figured you’d say that.” he says, reaching into the refrigerator and pulling out a clear drink in a clear glass. He sets it down in front of Persephone and she gratefully picks it up with both hands and takes a sip.

“You read my mind,” she groans. “I haven’t drank like that in a long time. My body is screeching.”

“Really?” Ares asks dubiously, flipping a pancake. “When was the last time you went out?”

“Last week.” she replies, taking another long sip of her drink.

Ares rolls his eyes. “You should work on that.”

She nods in agreement, but says nothing. She just examines the man in front of her.

“It’s not polite to stare,” he teases, setting a plate of pancakes and bacon down in front of her.

“Thank you so much, this looks great.” she beams, picking up her fork and shoveling bacon into her mouth. “Where’s yours?” she asks, her mouth full.

He laughs. “I ate this morning. Strict diet y’know.” He pats his stomach, and Persephone almost choked on her food when she saw those gorgeous chiseled abs and the big prominent v-shape of his hip bones. He catches her staring and she blushes.

“This food is amazing!” she exclaims, just to change the subject. And yeah, it was pretty good but she wanted to save herself the embarrassment of Ares smirking at her for ogling him.

“Are you sure you’re even tasting it?” Ares laughs, eyeing her already half eaten plate.

“Watch it, helmet head.” Persephone teases, pointing her fork at him.

He chuckles. “Why does everyone keep calling me that?”

Persephone raises her eyebrows and motions to the walls, which were covered in various spears, swords, shields, and of course, helmets.

“You got me there.”

After breakfast, Persephone asks Ares if she can take a shower, to which he happily obliged. The water and steam felt amazing on her skin and it felt like it was drawing out all the liquor that seemed to be clogging up her pores. She always felt dirty after drinking. She laughs and eyes up the bottle of expensive bourbon that Ares kept in the shower for some reason.

‘Kind of a good idea.’ she thought, taking a big gulp after remembering the talk that she promised Artemis they’d have when she got home. What was she even thinking? Once a cheater, always a cheater, right? Was she stupid for the little glimmer of hope in her heart telling her that maybe things would work with her and Apollo? Yes, she decided. Yes, she was beyond fucking stupid. She was downright crazy.

She got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself before leaning over the tub and wringing out her long hair with her hands. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” she calls.

Ares swings the door open and walks in before snapping his eyes shut. “You didn’t tell me you were naked!” he exclaims, covering his eyes with one of his massive hands.

“I’m not!” Persephone argues. “Don’t be a baby, this towel covers more of me than my dress did last night.”

Ares hesitantly opens his eyes and sighs softly. “Okay, you’re right.” he says, glancing at Persephone’s bra sitting on the bathroom counter. “Speaking of dresses, I washed yours so you can wear it home.” he says, hanging her dress off of the handles on one of the cabinets. “I can bring you home after you get dressed if you’d like.”

“Sure!” Persephone smiles. “Thank you! I’ll be ready in just a second.”

“You’re welcome.” He grins and closes the bathroom door.

Persephone gently finger combs her hair the best she could before drying off the rest of her body. She yelps when she catches one of her nipple piercings on the towel. This literally happened all the time and she had thought about just taking them out, but she loved them too much. If her mother ever found out that she had pierced her breasts, she would be livid. Then again, if she ever saw Persephone’s nose ring she would be livid. If Persephone breathed the wrong way her mother would be livid.

She rolls her eyes at the thought of Demeter and puts her bra on before pulling on her dress, which was totally unacceptable for the day time. She silently prayed no one she knew would see her before she got home.

She exited the bathroom and headed back into the living room where Ares sat in a plush leather chair, messing around on his phone. He looks up when she enters the room and smiles.

“You all ready to go? I put your purse and shoes by the door so you wouldn’t lose them.” he says.

“Thanks!” she smiles, knowing if he hadn’t done that she damn well would have lost them. “Yeah I’m all ready.” She heads towards the door and slips her heels on, feeling weird being so tall again after not wearing them for awhile. Well, with the heels she was only five foot two but still, tall to her. She pulls her purse over her shoulder and smiles at Ares behind her. He pulls his keys off the hanger and presses the down button on the elevator. The pair head into the elevator, where Ares presses ‘G’,

“Ground floor?” Persephone asks.

He shakes his head. “Garage.”

The elevator doors open to reveal a wide array of expensive cars.

“Which one is yours?” she asks, her eyes running up and down the aisles. She was still getting familiar with the idea of cars. She was still getting familiar with everything. After living in solitude with her mother with nothing, to living in the city with Artemis and being bombarded with everything, overwhelmed didn’t even begin to cover it.

“This one right here,” Ares says, the bright red Mustang beeping as he presses the unlock button.

“Where’s the ceiling?” Persephone questions.

Ares laughs. “It’s a convertible. The roof comes up and down with a button.” he informs her gently. After what she told him last night about living in the meadow, he was going to have to remember to explain even the simplest of things to her with compassion and understanding that all of this was new to her.

“Cool!” she explains, jumping into the passenger seat without even opening the door.

Ares shakes his head fondly. “I have never ever met someone like you before, Persephone.” he says sweetly, opening up the driver’s side door and sliding into the car.

Persephone blushes and smiles before looking away and trying to hide it. Ares definitely saw it. He backs up out of his parking space and speeds out of the parking garage and into the fresh late morning air. The sunlight felt incredible on Persephone’s skin, and the feeling reminded her of home. The revving of the car’s engine and the traffic and honking of New York City however, did not. The ride back to Persephone’s apartment was mostly quiet, other than her telling Ares directions on how to get to her place.

She still couldn’t believe he was so sweet. She still couldn’t believe she was here at all, sitting next to Ares in his nice car. Sitting next to the God of War watching the sunlight glint off of his sunglasses, his wavy brunette hair blowing in the wind, she was baffled. And then it stopped.

“Well, here we are.” he says turning to her, surprised that she was already looking at him. “I-I had a great time last night, Persephone. I was, um, just wondering if maybe I could get your phone number?”

Her face lights up. “Of course!” she says happily. “Can I see your phone?”

He hands it to her and she quickly types her information in, saving it as ‘Seph’ followed by a pink heart which made Ares’ stone heart flutter.

“Just let me know whenever you wanna hangout! I’m pretty much like always free and I’m always dying to get out of the house!” she grins. She turns to get out of the car.

“Persephone-“ Ares says. She turns around to face him with a confused look on her face. “C-Can I kiss you?”

She grins even bigger than before and leans forward, resting one of her hands on the side of Ares’ cheek and softly pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. Fireworks were going off in Ares’ mind. Her lips tasted of alcohol and he never knew gin could taste so good. But as soon as it had started, it was over and Persephone was waving goodbye and heading into her apartment building.

The second she walked into her apartment, she sighed and leaned up against the door. She touched her lips and closed her eyes.

“Seph?”

Her eyes snap open to reveal Artemis standing across the living room staring at her with narrowed eyes.

“So, you just weren’t gonna let me know that you were staying over at that weirdo’s house?” she says, placing her hands on her hips. “We were worried sick.”

“Firstly, I didn’t know I had to, Artemis.” Persephone sighs and drops her purse down onto the couch. “Second, he’s not a weirdo, he was very nice. Third, who is ‘we’?”

Artemis widens her eyes. “Um, me and my little brother? He was absolutely petrified that Ares had done something to you!”

Persephone plops down onto the couch. “I’m sorry for worrying you, Artemis. But as for him? I’m not his to worry about anymore.” she says dryly.

Artemis sighs and sits down next to her. “He was crying all night, y’know.” she says quietly. “He cried himself to sleep.”

Persephone’s throat tightens. She knew how unbelievably dirty he had done her, but she still had a heart. No matter how much she hated to admit it, she still loved him and feared that she always would. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t even think about it.” she mutters.“Where is he?”

“Asleep.”

“In your bed?” Persephone asks with a skeptical glance.

“Fuck no!” Artemis exclaims. “I’m not sleeping in the same bed as my sibling, I’m not Zeus!”

“Where’s he sleeping then?!” Persephone demands.

“He’s in your bed.”

“What the fuck, Artemis?!” she whisper-yells, careful as to not wake the sleeping cheater in the next room. “Why would you let him sleep in my bed?!”

“I figured you wouldn’t care! He used to sleep in there all the time!” Artemis whisper-yells back. “I thought it might make him feel better!”

“I cannot believe you let my ex-boyfriend sleep in my bed.” Persephone sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb. “I wanted to take a nap when I got home. I guess I can sleep on the couch.”

“Just go in there, go to bed and sleep.” Artemis urges. “It’s not like he’s going to try anything on you. He’ll probably just wake up and leave before you even get up.”

Unable to say no to Artemis, Persephone lets out a melodramatic sigh before getting up off of the couch and heading into her bedroom, shooting one last glare at Artemis before closing the door behind her.

She pulls off her dress, watching to make sure Apollo didn’t wake up to find her naked in front of him. He was laying on his back, the covers barely covering his massive pectoral muscles, the lyre tattoo on the left side of his chest peeking out from underneath the sheets. She removes her bra and pulls on one of her t-shirts before climbing into bed hesitantly next to Apollo. She pulls the covers up and tightly surrounds herself with him as not to touch him.

She had been laying down for about twenty minutes and was mere seconds from falling asleep when she felt a hand on the covers over her shoulder.

“Seph?” Apollo’s croaky morning voice (a sound she never thought she’d hear again) asks. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” she says wryly, looking over her shoulder slightly. “This is my bed, afterall.”

“No, I mean like, I thought you were at Ares’.” he says softly. Fear struck a chord inside of his heart. “D-Did you…”

She decides to give up on her childish games and takes a deep breath and turns to face him. His eyes are still red and puffy from crying last night. It made her heart ache, and she fought everything inside of her telling her to grab him by the face and kiss him. She’s the one who made him feel like this, and she knew she was the only one who could make it feel better. “Did I what?”

“Did you sleep with him?” That scared, worried tone in his voice completely shattered Persephone’s heart into a million little itty bitty pieces.

“No, I didn’t.” she said gently. She thought it best not to tell him that they shared a bed. Besides, what right did he have to know? Especially after what he did to her. Why should she even feel bad for him? Just because he spent one night crying over her? She couldn’t even count how many nights she spent in her room bawling, clutching her tear-soaked pillow and writhing because of the crippling pain she felt in her heart all because of him.

A brief look of relief washes over his face before concern returns. He stares at her, admiring those crazily long lashes of hers. That adorable little nose with those few freckles splayed across it. And those big, gorgeous clear light green eyes that he had caused so many tears to fall from. “Can we talk, Seph?”

Her heart couldn’t take it anymore. She wasn’t strong enough to have the love of her life in her bed, right in front of her face and being able to do nothing about it. It was the biggest moment of weakness in her life so far, but she couldn’t help it. She would always have a soft side for him, and she would always be able to do nothing about it. She felt like she would always be wrapped around his little finger and it terrified her.

“We can talk,” she says softly, looking up at him. “After we take a nap.” And with that, she thrusted herself into his arms.

When Persephone woke up for the second time that day, the clock on her bedside table read 5:21pm. She shuffled a bit, and began to stir but stopped when someone started chuckling at her. She finally noticed the muscular arm wrapped around her hips and turned around to find Apollo lying next to her. She had barely remembered crawling into bed with him, but she definitely remembered throwing herself back into his arms like she knew she always would.

“I forgot how serious you are about your naps.” he says.

“How long have you been awake?” Persephone asks, propping herself up onto her elbows.

He hums in thought. “Two, two thirty maybe?”

She raises her eyebrows. “I figured you just would have left.” she says. “What have you been doing the past three hours? Just watching me sleep?”

“Well I didn’t leave because you said we could talk after we napped. And no I wasn’t watching you sleep.” He holds up his phone. “Candy Crush.”

Persephone laughs. “You and that game, I swear.” she says. “What level are you on now?”

“Two-thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine.”

Her eyes widen. “Damn, weren’t you on like three-hundred and five last time I saw you?”

Apollo shrugs. “When you don’t have a girlfriend you have a lot of time on your hands.”

Persephone huffs and runs a hand through her hair. “Well obviously you know why we had to break up.” she says.

“Yeah,” he sighs.

“Say it.”

“We had to break up because I had sex with that nymph.”

Persephone’s eyes well up with tears and she buried her face in one of her pillows. “Why did you have to say sex?” she sobs. “Why couldn’t you have just said cheated?”

“Seph,” he tries to put his hand on her back but she jerks away. “I had like eighteen drinks that night! I didn’t even know who I was. I know it isn’t an excuse but...I thought she was you.”

She looks up at him, face red and tears falling at a rapid pace. “She had a fucking huge tattoo on her shoulder! Or did you not think about that while you were blowing her back out?”

“Don’t be so vulgar, Seph. I was trashed out of my mind! I didn’t realize it wasn’t you until I heard her-“ he stops.

“Until you heard her what?” Persephone demands.

“Seph, don’t-“

“Heard her what, Apollo?!”

“It wasn’t until I heard her moaning that I realized it wasn’t you.” he says under his breath.

Persephone goes back to laying face down into her pillow, her sobs shaking the entire bed.

“Persephone.” Apollo says softly. He wraps his arms around her and tries to pull her into his arms.

“Stop it! Stop it!” she cries, using all of the strength in her little arms to push him off but it was no use. “Get off of me!”

He ignores her and pulls her closer into him, pinning her arms up against his chest. She couldn’t fight anymore despite all of her trying. She bawled her eyes out, her tears soaking his chest while he stroked her hair and shushed her. He closed his own eyes.

“Persephone, you have no idea how much I wish that I could take it back. You have no idea how much it kills me inside,” His own tears started falling now. “To know that you are never going to be able to trust or love me the way you used to. M-My existence without you is a fate worse than death itself and there’s nothing I can do to fix it.”

Persephone didn’t think that her heart could hurt anymore than it already did but his words used the shattered pieces of her heart to stab her. She sobbed so hard she was sure that she would pop a blood vessel. His touch sickened her yet she never wanted him to let her go. Neither one of them said nothing for hours after that. Apollo simply held her close while she bawled into his chest while silent tears fell down his cheeks that Persephone could feel soaking her own hair. It wasn’t until Persephone’s phone lit up. Apollo said nothing but he slowly removed his arm from Persephone to pick up her phone.

**+1 (718) ***-**** :** _Hey, I know I just saw you but I’d love to pick you up and go out for drinks later. Just let me know ;P_

“He’s texting you now?” Apollo asks, flatly. His own heart had taken quite the beating in the past forty-eight hours, and even though he knew it was nothing but his own fault, he couldn’t stop the anger from rising up within him.

“W-What? What are you talking about?” Persephone sniffles.

“Ares.” he says. “Are you hanging out with my step-brother to get back at me or something? Because that’s low. Even for you, Persephone.”

“Even for me?” she defends, finally being able to push herself away from him. “What the fuck is wrong with you? That hadn’t even crossed my mind!” She gets up out of bed and points to the door. “I think you’d better leave. NOW.”

“Seph, you know I didn’t-“

“LEAVE.” she shouts, turning to face the other side of the room. Nothing else is said. All Persephone could hear was the shuffling of clothes, the occasional sniffle, and finally her bedroom door opening and closing.


	3. Chapter Three

She was so tired. Tired, confused and angry. She sat down at her vanity and sighed. Things could have gone so well. She was so close to cavingbut Apollo’s jealousy got to him once again. At this point, she was used to heartbreak when it came to Apollo, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

Persephone sat down at her vanity and started getting ready to go out. She texted Ares back, telling him to meet her at the bar near her house and continued filling her eyebrows.

Why did he have to make things so difficult? Was it so hard to push his jealousy to the side for just a moment before he said something he couldn’t come back from? Were her affections for him not strong enough to keep him from hurting her?

She applied her mascara.

Things were going to be so awkward between them now. Artemis had him over all the time. Would she look pathetic locking herself in her room every time he comes around? Would she look even more pathetic if she sat with them and pretended she was okay when everyone knew she wasn’t?

She covered her lips in cherry red lipstick before she pulled on one of her dresses that was more on the sexy side, a tight, deep plum colored spaghetti strap dress that went down to just above her knees. Throwing her purse over her shoulder, she heads out of her bedroom.

“Whoa,” Artemis says, eyeing her best friend up and down. “Where ya headed, porn star?”

Persephone furrows her brow in confusion. “What’s a porn star?”

Artemis shakes her head dismissively. “Never mind.” she says quickly. “Where are you going?”

“Just to the bar down the street.” Persephone answers. “I need a drink after that little encounter.”

“Yeah, I heard all about it.” Artemis says softly. “But you don’t have to go drink over it. Why don’t you just stay home with me and watch movies?”

Persephone smiles, but shakes her head. “I have plans.” she says. “But we can tomorrow?”

Artemis rolls her eyes. “I have never met anyone more prone to life threatening idiocy.” she says. “If you’re gonna go see that psychopath at least be careful.”

“Always.” Persephone winks.

—-

She slides into one of the many empty booths and rests her head in her hand. 

“Hey, Seph.” says the bartender, Sal. “What can I get you? G and T?”

“How about a vodka cranberry?” she says. 

Sal nods and stalks offs. She wanted to reduce familiarity with Apollo down to zero. It was petty and childish, but her decision was certain. The two of them were done for good.

“Now, what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” says a voice to her right.

She grins and turns to face him. “Hey cutie.” she says happily. 

Ares smiles back at her. “I think you must be mistaken.” he says, sliding into the booth across from her. Thank Gods he wasn’t a ‘same side of the booth’ kind of guy. “You’re clearly the cute one here.”

“Ever the flirt.” she says sweetly. 

“Vodka cran for the lady,” Sal says, setting Persephone’s drink down in front of her before looking to Ares. “What can I get for the gentleman?”

“Bourbon.” Ares says. “Make it a double, please.”

Sal nods and walks off once more.

Persephone smiles and tilts her head. “Y’know, I never took you as the be-nice-to-mortals type.”

Ares chuckles. “I think I’m more the be-nice-to-everyone type. Contrary to popular belief.” Ares knew that he was lying. He knew that he was brash, ill-tempered, and everything all the gods had ever said about him. But Persephone didn’t know that. She could never ever find out. There were so many wonderful things about Persephone. She was innocent, naive, trusting. Not to mention drop dead gorgeous. She looked him through unjudging, understanding eyes. He needed her in his life. He needed her to make him a better man. 

“Such a sweet boy,” she teases, taking a sip of her drink.

“No gin?” Ares says incredulously. “I was pretty sure that stuff was pumping through your veins at all times by now.”

“I’m ready to explore new things.” Persephone replies coyly. 

Ares swallows. “So, whatcha got there?” he asks, nodding in the direction of her drink.

“Vodka cranberry,” she answers. “It’s a little bitter for my tastes, but I’ll get used to it.”

Sal comes back and sets Ares’ drink down with a smile. Ares thanks him and takes a sip before Sal heads back to the bar. 

“I gotta say, Seph,” Ares says, leaning back in his seat. His eyes glimmer with carnal ideation. “You’re such a smoke show.”

She laughs half-heartedly and tucks her hair behind her ear. She felt nervous and close to unworthy under his gaze, which remained unwavering. “Thank you.” she says softly. 

The afternoon had quickly grown into evening with the help of a couple drinks and soon enough, Persephone  
had began to find it difficult to stand up straight on her own. Ares, however, being twice her size felt normal, a little fuzzy inside if anything.

“You wanna head back to my place?” Ares murmurs into her hair. The two had migrated to the dance floor per Persephone’s request once her favorite Pixies song had come on.

She cranes her neck all the way back to look up at the large god in front of her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get me into bed with you.” 

Ares chuckles, his eyes sweeping across the bar catching all of the mortal men eyeing him with jealousy of the exceptional and drunken beauty cradled in his grasp. “It wouldn’t be the first time.” 

Eventually, Persephone had agreed to finally leave the bar after Ares’ promise of more drinks at his apartment. He helped her into his car and closed the door before walking over to his side and getting in. Now, the evening wind was whipping through her lengthy hair. Her voice rang through the streets of New York, melodic and just as enchanting as a goddess’s should be as she drunkenly sang along to the radio. 

Ares watched her from the corner of his eye in unconcealed infatuation. He hadn’t been lying when he told her he’d never met anyone like her. He wasn’t sure what he expected of her when he met her, but he never imagined her to be like this. Never in a thousand years could he have pictured the sheltered daughter of the regal and dignified Demeter to be dangling out the side of his car, drunk and singing along to Travis Scott. He was enchanted.

He pulled into the parking garage, parked, and got out of the car. He only stopped when he noticed that Persephone didn’t get out of the car. 

“Hey, what’re you up to?” he asks, leaning against her car door. 

She rolls her head in his direction and grins. “Carry me?” she asks, pushing her bottom lip out.

Ares beams and pulls open her car door before gathering her up into his arms easily. He closes the car door with his knee and heads toward the elevator. Persephone tucks her head in between his jaw and neck, warm breath from every exhale grazing his neck. The elevator ride is silent except for the whirring and mechanical creaking of the elevator itself.

The doors slide open and Ares brings Persephone into the apartment and down the hallway into his bedroom, laying her down gently onto his bed. Thinking she was asleep, he starts getting undressed for bed until…

“So how about those drinks?”

Ares pulls his shirt back down and spins around, finding Persephone stretched out on her bed, her head propped up on her hand.

“Don’t stop on my account.” she smirks, her intoxicated half-lidded eyes glinting under the warm dim light of his bedroom lamp. Her dress had ridden up a little, revealing half of her toned and voluptuous thighs. To Ares, it was drool worthy.

Ares stomach ties up in knots. “I’m gonna go make those drinks now.” he says, abruptly turning and exiting the bedroom.

Persephone sighed and sat up, glancing around the bedroom. Since she was significantly drunk, she peeled off her dress before Ares could get back. She had on only a simple blush pink bra and matching lacy underwear, but she was feeling bold. 

She pulls a packet of makeup remover wipes out of her purse and takes one out of the package before heading over to the mirror and taking off her makeup. Just like she had thought, Ares had walked in to find Persephone half naked.

“Oh, hey.” she says nonchalantly.

“Damn,” Ares exhales sharply. He knew that Persephone had a big butt but once it was out of her restrictive clothing...Fuck.

“It’s not polite to stare.” she teases. She walks slowly toward Ares. Seductive, smooth, sexy. She’s just about to reach him when she veers off to the right to toss her makeup removing wipe into the trash. 

Ares lets out a breath he didn’t realize that he had been holding in. “Y’know, you can’t do stuff like that to me.” he jokes. “I almost fainted.” Not a joke.

She walks back out and front of him and smirks. “You have something I want, Ares.” she says breathily. “Something I need.” She takes a step closer and presses her fingertip to the side of his neck before dragging it slowly down to his collarbone.

“Y-Yeah?” Ares stammers. “And what’s that?”

“My drink.” she grins like the cheshire cat.

“Gods, Persephone,” he groans, handing her her vodka cranberry. “Must you tease me like this?”

“Oh, but you just make it so easy.” she says, taking a long sip of her drink before settling it down on Ares’ nightstand. “Now c’mere and cuddle me.”

She sure didn’t have to tell him twice. He sets his bourbon down onto his nightstand before pulling off his t-shirt and pants. 

“At least now I’m not the only one in my underwear.” she laughs, briefly “Now c’mere!” She juts out her bottom lip and makes grabby hands like a baby. Who could say no?

Ares climbs into bed and pulls Persephone into his arms like she weighed nothing. After all, she practically did weigh nothing. 

“I missed you.” Ares murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“It was only a couple of hours, sweetheart.” she replies softly, running her fingers up and down his bare chest.

“It felt like a millennia.” he says honestly. And it really did. “What were you doing anyway? You sure hid it well but I can tell something is up. I’m not stupid.” 

Persephone takes a deep breath. “Do you really want the truth? I’m not sure you’ll care for the answer.” 

“Of course I want you to tell me the truth. I can take it. I’m a big boy.” he says, a lie Persephone was too trusting to catch. He runs his fingers through her silky smooth hair and she melts into his touch.

“Okay, well um, when I got home earlier Artemis told me that Apollo was in my bed.” she begins slowly.

“Your ex-boyfriend?” he says lowly. He did his best to hide it, but that nasty hint of jealousy shone through. That was the truth. He was so disgustingly jealous of his step-brother, and he and Persephone weren’t even together anymore. He just couldn’t stop himself from thinking about all of the nights she had laid in Apollo’s arms, all of the times she cried and he had made her feel better, all of the times that they had had sex. The jealousy building up in the pit of his stomach made him sick. He wanted to hear no more of the story, but Persephone needed to talk about it, so he would listen. 

“Y-Yeah, he stayed over last night after your party and Artemis didn’t want him in her bed. So I went in there and,” she pauses for a moment debating on telling him the truth. “And I had a moment of weakness. We took a nap together, and when I woke up. We talked and I-I sobbed for a long time and held me. Then you texted and his jealousy overwhelmed him. He said some things he shouldn’t have about how I was just seeing you to get to him and I made him leave. Then I met you at the bar.”

“I’m so sorry, Persephone.” he says quietly, taking both of her hands into his. “But you’re gonna be okay. Things will get easier.”

“I keep telling myself that,” she murmurs into his chest. “But they never do.”

And for the first time since they met, Ares saw Persephone for what she was. She wasn’t just some naive little girl. She was overly trusting because she wanted to be. She wanted to see the best in everything because even if things didn’t end in her favor, she wasn’t afraid of anything. Her heart had already been broken so badly, by her mother, by her lover. She didn’t think that there could possibly be anything worse than that. If she only knew. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Persephone’s soft voice drags him from his thoughts.

“Nothing.” he answers quietly. 

“Ares.” she says tenderly. 

“Yes?” 

“I don’t want to be in love with him anymore.” Persephone meant for it to be reassuring, but Ares took it as the exact opposite.

Ares snaps. He thought he could keep his cool, tried to keep his jealousy hidden better than Apollo had. But truth be told, his jealousy was far greater and far more terrifying than his step-brother’s could ever be. “You’re not in love with him, anymore.” says Ares gravely. “You’re with me now.”

The tone in his voice set off alarm bells inside of her head. “Ares, I should probably be heading home now.” she squeaks. “Artemis is probably worrying about me.” She pulls her hands out of his and moves to get up out of the bed, but he catches her roughly by the wrist.

“Oh, so you just think you’re just gonna go home and climb back into bed with Apollo again?” he snarls, his grip like a vice as he yanks her back into bed as though she was a rag doll. “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”

“I-I don’t think you’re stupid, Ares, I just have to go home.” she breathes, desperately trying to free her wrist from his grasp but his grip only grew tighter and tighter until she thought that her wrist might break. 

“This is your home now.” he says, almost in irritation. He pulls her back into his arms despite her yelps of pain and protest. She knew that even if she tried to fight him off, she would never win. She had no other choice other to lie down and let him hold her. “Good girl.” he murmurs. 

Ares had fallen asleep quickly after their dispute, but Persephone laid restless for the remainder of the night. She thought that maybe her failed relationship with Apollo was no one’s fault, that maybe things just happened for a reason. But now, eyeing her already discolored wrist, she began to wonder if she had been the problem in both of these failed and hopeless relationships. Had she gotten addicted to the drama? Or maybe addicted to the feeling of sadness that had lurked deep down inside of her heart for the past six months. 

Persephone silently wondered if she was ever meant to really be truly happy. From the moment she was born, her father didn’t want her. Her mother swept her off out into the middle of nowhere and kept her in solitude for most of her formative years until her mother had finally allowed her to meet Artemis. Her upbringing was miserable, and she thought that moving to New York might make her feel better. She thought a change of scenery would be good for her, but she had been drowning in her sadness her entire life. She was stupid for thinking that anything would change. 

Persephone left Ares’ apartment early that morning. She felt like she had been suffocating all night. She told herself that maybe after six months of being single that she just wasn’t used to being with someone every day. She’d be willing to tell herself anything other than accepting the fact that maybe Ares was just the brute everybody had warned her about. 

When she got home, she found Artemis sprawled across the couch watching TV.

“Hey.” Persephone says quietly, pulling her sweatshirt sleeves down over her wrists. 

“Hey, Seph,” Artemis says, worry evident in her voice. “What’s wrong? Did Ares do something to you? Because I’ll-“

“No, he didn’t do anything to me. I just...I don’t know what’s wrong with me anymore, Artemis.” she lies, tears welling up in her eyes. She blinks them back. She wasn’t going to cry over that stupid asshole. “I just need a fucking drink.” she smiles.

“Now that’s something I can help with!” Artemis says happily. “But you look exhausted. Why don’t you go lie down for a little while? I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.”

Persephone nods silently and gets up from her spot on the couch. She enters her room and closes it behind her before flopping down onto her bed.

“Why do I do this to myself?” she mumbles, running her fingertips over the rich purple contusion on her wrist. Was she a horrible person? Did she deserve to get hurt by the ones she thought cared about her? Why did this happen to her every time? 

Her phone chirps inside of her pocket. She tugs it out to look at it and finds four texts from Apollo.

Apollo: I know that I was too harsh on you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I let my jealousy get the best of me. Please call me.

Apollo: Please don’t ignore me. I need to talk to you. I need to see you again. I’m falling apart. Please call me.

Apollo: Please call me.

Apollo: Artemis said you came home all shaken up. Are you okay? You know I’m always here for you.

Persephone takes a shaky breath and locks her phone. She knew Apollo cared about her. She also knew that she couldn’t tell him what happened without him speeding over to Ares’ apartment and trying to kill him. She knew Apollo wouldn’t win that fight. Then her phone is ringing loudly next to her and she knew who it was without even looking at the caller ID. She presses the green ‘answer’ button.

“Hello?” Persephone answers shortly. She was grateful that Apollo still cared for her, but did it make her a bad person for wishing that he did it differently than this guilt-ridden lost puppy dog kind of way? 

“Hey, Seph.” Apollo said, his voice fuzzy and clouded with sleep over the phone. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she mutters, trying not to sound like she was lying. She knew he’d be able to read that in a millisecond. “Just overwhelmed today, that’s all.”

“Well, I hope you feel better soon.” says Apollo genuinely. “Anyway, I’ll see you later.”

“Wait, you’re coming to the club with us?” Persephone asks incredulously. 

“Yeah, Seph. Like I always do.” Apollo sighs. “You know Artemis thinks of me as some sort of insurance policy to keep you both safe when you go out.”

“By ‘you both’ you mean ‘just you’, huh?” she hums in annoyance.

“Someone has to keep an eye on you, if so much as a hair on your head was harmed, we’d be dealing with the wrath of your mother.” he says carefully.

Persephone glance down at her bruised wrists and almost laughs. “I’ll see you later on then.” she says quickly, pressing the red button and hanging up without a second thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Ares has just as many hard spots as he does soft spots , who’d have thought??? Hades next chapter, folks


	4. Chapter Four

Hades woke up at exactly 6:00 am sharp as he did every morning. He sat up in bed and stretched his aching limbs, sneaking a glance at the empty other half and silently wishing there was someone around to fill it. He would never tell anyone that though. Or so he thought.

He began every morning with a lukewarm shower. Since he had grown so accustomed to the nearly freezing temperatures of the Underworld, anything considered warm felt so foreign to him that it made him uncomfortable. After his daily shower, he dried his hair with a towel and changed into one of his many signature black suits.

Hades had grown so weary of the same old routine, but had no idea of how to fix it. He was stubborn and maybe even worse, petrified of change. He wondered how someone could crave change so badly yet be so frightened of it at the same time.

“My Lord,” says Thanatos, scurrying into Hades’ office. For being the God of Death, Thanatos was meek and mousy. Nothing like anyone would have ever imagined, like most of the gods. “You’ve received a letter from the Fates.”

Hades looks up from his papers dubiously. “A letter from the Fates?” he asks, wondering why the trio didn’t just make an office visit considering that they lived in the Underworld. “What for?”

“It’s your fate.” replies Thanatos. “An address, Your Highness.”

“An address?” Hades asks, almost laughing. “Where ever for?”

“A nightclub in New York City.” Thanatos says. “The Crypt.”

“What could possibly be waiting for me in a nightclub, Thanatos?” he scoffs, extending his hand. “Let me see that letter.”

“I believe a nightclub is where the mortal men go to meet women, My King.” Thanatos sets the letter into Hades’ hand.

Hades scans over the piece of old parchment, examining the scrawled out address. “W-Women?” he murmurs nervously. He hadn’t left the Underworld in almost 3,000 years, let alone been out to a nightclub. Now he was expected to emerge from his comfortable depths and jump in head first into a society he hadn’t seen in person for centuries? Sure, he had kept up with the times through television and movies, but seeing them in person? It sent shivers down his spine. Nonetheless, he thought it best to go even if it frightened him. How bad could it possibly be? Afterall, who was he to ignore a prediction from the Fates?

—

Meanwhile, Persephone was utterly clueless about what she was going to wear.

“Artemis, do you have any long sleeved dresses?” Persephone asks.

“Why?” Artemis asks, taking a break from applying her makeup to face Persephone. “Are we stopping by the church or something?”

Persephone giggles. “No, I just have a case of the chills.” she lies.

“Well, I have one. But it’s a little…” Artemis pauses and scrunches up her nose. “Raunchy.”

Soon Persephone stood in her bedroom wearing a long sleeved olive green strapless dress with two diamond shaped cutouts on the sides. It gripped her body a little more tightly than she was used to, which was saying something considering the dresses she usually wore on nights out. She glanced down at her legs, raising her eyebrows at the fabric that only reached her mid-thigh. If the dress was this short on her, she couldn’t even imagine how short it must be on Artemis, who stood at a towering five foot ten. Well, towering to Persephone.

She had kept it simple with her makeup: eyebrows, mascara, and nude lipgloss. She had never had any experience with makeup before she moved to New York, but she liked to think she wasn’t too bad at it.

“Okay!” she calls, stepping out of her bedroom. “I’m ready!”

Apollo’s eyes widen. Persephone did her best not to acknowledge her ex-boyfriend’s wandering and hungry eyes. Luckily, much like many of her problems, Artemis fixed it.

“Quit ogling, creep!” Artemis says in irritation, smacking her brother roughly in the ribs. Persephone thought Artemis looked far more tasteful than herself, clad in a simple red cocktail dress, her golden hair curled to perfection. She turns to Persephone with a smile. “You ready to go?”

“Where exactly are we going?” Apollo asked, once the three of them had piled into his car.

“The Crypt!” Artemis says excitedly.

“The Crypt?” Persephone raises her eyebrows. “I would have dressed up a little more nicely if I knew we were gonna go there.”

Artemis scoffs. “Don’t worry about it, Seph. It’s just as greasy as any other nightclub around.”

Parking the car took longer than it did to get to the actual club. The outside was pretty basic, a large brick building with a big neon blue sign on the front. The three had paid the cover charge and gotten into the club quite easily due to their good looks. Like usual, Artemis had easily found a table. The air was hot and heavy, filled with joy and alcohol fueled laughter.

Apollo had gotten the girls two rounds of drinks and three rounds of shots. If he was craving a drink you would never be able to tell.

Artemis drags Persephone and Apollo out onto the crowded dance floor, shouting excitedly about how this was ‘her song’ and how it was ‘absolutely vital’ that the three of them go out and dance.

Despite being the goddess of chastity, Artemis moved rather provocatively on the dance floor and Persephone loved her for it. She thought she probably looked funny dancing so half-heartedly next to her friend who was going so hard at it. When she was only half-drunk, rap music wasn’t really her cup of tea until she was full drunk. But when ‘Clarity’ by Zedd came on? She was ready to fuck it up, half-drunk or not.

Persephone never really thought about whether or not she was a good dancer but much to Apollo’s dismay, judging by the looks of the men around her, she was. She didn’t think she was doing much. Just stepping back and forth to the rhythm, bobbing her head side to side and flipping her hair. She was having the time of her life.

Unfortunately, Apollo wasn’t. He felt like he was dying on the inside. Watching the multi-colored lights moving across her skin while she danced to one of her favorite songs without a care in the world, like she had forgotten about him, like their fight meant nothing to her. He had never faced the possibility that maybe the two of them would be done for good. But seeing her like this? Grinning, dancing, having a fantastic time and leaving his clear heartache unnoticed? It seemed to seal their fate.

He was miserable and fuming. He was used to men gawking at Persephone when they were together and although it made him almost violently jealous, she was always there to reassure him, talk him down, grab him by the face and kiss it better. But now? It seemed like every man in the club was eyeing her up and down. Apollo didn’t blame them. If he wasn’t so heartbroken, he’d probably be ogling her too. It was almost impossible not to, watching the sensual swinging of her wide hips and that tiny waist. Her full pouty lips singing along to the music and sipping her drink. She might as well have stomped all over his heart in her black stilettos.

“I think that guy over there is staring at you.” Artemis says to Persephone over the music. She takes a sip of her beer.

“What guy?” Persephone asks, whirling around. Her eyes scan through the crowds until her eyes are met with the gaze of a pair of warm, blue-gray ones. Her breath catches in her throat.

“Yeah, that one.” Artemis laughs. “Why don’t you go and talk to him?”

“T-T-Talk to him?” Persephone stammers. “Look at him, Artemis! I can’t just walk up to him and talk to him!” she hisses.

The man sitting at the bar across the room was wearing a black button up dress shirt. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows revealing lean forearms, with skin that was paler than Persephone’s. His eyes were warm and kind, the rest of him cold and cruel. He made her skin crawl in the best kind of way.

“Persephone, he’s just a dude.” Artemis assures. “Look at you! He’ll be wrapped around your little finger in two seconds. Face him like a grown up!”

Persephone takes a deep breath and turns to her best friend. “How do I look?”

“Incredible.” Artemis answers, gently pushing her in the direction of the bar.

She was so nervous she was shaking. She’d never approached a man first before, let alone a man who looked like that. His eyes never left her as she made her way through the crowds of people and over to him. She didn’t even want to think about how apprehensive she must look on the outside if she felt this uneasy on the inside. Somehow, she had made it to the bar.

She orders a double shot of tequila. Her heart pounds so hard inside of her chest, she feared it must be visible. She glances back out onto the dance floor, meeting eyes with Artemis who gives her a cheesy grin and a double thumbs up.

“You’re quite the dancer.” the man comments, taking a sip of his drink.

Persephone blushes a rosy pink and awkwardly brings her hand up to rub the side of her neck. “You saw that, huh?”

“Yes, I saw.” he chuckles, turning to face her. “So, do you have a name?”

“I’m Persephone.” she says, sticking her hand out for him to shake. The bartender sets her drink down in front of her.

‘Persephone’ he thought.

He takes her small hand in his large one and shakes. “Nice to meet you, Persephone.” he says, ignoring the electricity shooting through his veins at her touch. Her hands were warm and soft in his cold bony ones. He never wanted to let go.

“Nice to meet you too….?” she trails off, hinting at the fact that she didn’t know the name of the man whose hand she was shaking.

He was hesitant, and very nervous to tell her his name. Once he introduced himself to someone, they had always grown fidgety and uncomfortable. He didn’t know what he’d do with himself if he ever made her uncomfortable. “I’m Hades.” he says finally, looking at her carefully.

To his surprise, her expression doesn’t falter in the slightest. She’s still looking up at him smiling with those perfect pearly white teeth.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Hades.” she says honestly. She couldn’t pretend, of course she was a teensy bit nervous. She hadn’t really expected for him to be a god, but she should have figured so, judging from his good looks. But it was Hades, of all gods, it had to be Hades.

“The pleasure is mine.” he responds honestly. “Do you smoke?” he asks, pulling a semi-crushed pack of Marlboros out of his front shirt pocket. He had no idea of what to say in the slightest but he never wanted the conversation to end.

Persephone raises her eyebrows. “Smoke?” she asks.

“Cigarettes?” Hades tries again. He could tell by the expression on her face that it wasn’t ringing any bells. He found it strangely endearing. “I can show you if you’d like.”

Persephone nods eagerly and he picks up his drink, motioning for her to follow him out onto the patio. She pounds her drink and sets the glass back down onto the bar before following him outside. Once outside, he hears a small “Ugh!” behind him.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, spinning around. He had done his best to hide the concern in his voice, but turns out he didn’t do a very good job.

She smiles and laughs lightly, a sound that made Hades’ black heart melt. “My ears just popped, silly.” she says.

Hades leans up against the side of the balcony. “I can’t believe you don’t know what cigarettes are.” he mutters, setting one in between his lips.

“Over protective mother.” Persephone explains simply, locking eyes with him. She half expected for him to look the other direction but his gaze remained on her. It felt like he could see into her soul, like if he looked hard enough he’d be able to see each layer of heartache, mommy issues, and fear of abandonment that made up pretty much Persephone’s entire being.

Hades had questions, but he thought it best to keep them to himself for now. Even though he had just met her he felt like he had known her for much longer, maybe even years. “So essentially,” he says, pulling a silver Zippo lighter out of his pocket. “You light it and inhale.” He lights the cigarette with ease as Persephone watches, captivated by both him and the cigarette. She’d never admit it, but mostly by him. Then he parts his lips and the smoke billows out and Persephone might as well have melted into a puddle on the ground.

“Can I try?” she asks curiously.

Hades arches an eyebrow. “Are you sure? I don’t want to start an addiction. It’s a disgusting habit, y’know.”

She blinks once and nods, completely throwing her addictive personality out the window. He didn’t need to know about that, she decided. Hades hands her the cigarette and she holds it between her index and middle finger just as he had done.

“Okay, so what do I do?” she asks, examining it.

“So bring it to your lips, inhale and exhale.” Hades explains softly. He couldn’t lie and say that watching the smoke billowing out of her pretty pink lips wasn’t alluring. She coughed a little, and Hades found he thought that even that was cute. “Are you alright?” he asks.

Persephone blinks once again and looks up at him. “My head feels fuzzy.” she says, taking one more drag before handing the cigarette back to Hades. “I think I need to sit down.”

He gingerly takes her by the hand and leads her to one of the many chairs. She sits down slowly, and Hades averts his eyes from the clear view of her chest.

“Well, that’s a new feeling.” she says, flashing a million-dollar-grin up at Hades. “Why does it do that?”

“Nicotine,” he says. “It’s in your brain.”

Her eyes widen significantly. “My brain?” she asks quickly. “Am I going to feel this way forever?”

Hades almost wants to chuckle at her innocence, but he’s more concerned with reassuring her that everything would be okay. “No, no, no.” he says. “It’ll only last a couple of minutes.”

Persephone lets out a sigh of relief and chuckles. She looks up at him. “Can I see it again?”

“By all means.” Hades says, holding his hand out for her to take the cigarette. Their hands brush, butterflies building up in both of their stomachs.

“Hades,” she says suddenly, her cheeks turning rosy. “I have a stupid question and you have to promise me that you won’t laugh at me.”

Hades’ interest piqued at this, and a small smile forms on his lips. “I promise that I won’t laugh, Persephone.”

“C-Could,” she stammers before taking a deep breath and looking up at him. “Can I get your number?”

His heart thumps loudly inside of his chest. Silently he wondered if this was some sort of sick joke. He half-expected for Thanatos to come out from the shadows somewhere, laughing with a video camera. Things like this just didn’t happen to Hades. No one had ever really given him so much as a second glance but now here he was at some shifty nightclub, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen looking up at him like he was the sun, the moon, and all of the stars.

“Of course you can have my number.” he says finally, silently thanking Thanatos for convincing him to get a cellphone. He had barely used it, just the occasional Google search but now? Now he had the best reason he could possibly think of.

Persephone smiles wider than she had in a very long time. She pulls her phone out of her clutch, careful not to burn it with the cigarette in her hand. She hands her phone to him for put his information in, and he does so quickly, saving his contact under only ‘H’.

“Thank you.” she breathes out softly, a small smile forming at the corner of her lips.

“No, thank you.” Hades says. What were the odds? He goes up to the surface world once in thousands of years on a whim and meets not only the best and most interesting person he’d ever met, but the most beautiful as well. It felt way too good to be true.

And for a moment, as they gazed upon each other, both of their worlds were perfect. Persephone felt as though she had found everything she had been looking for, and the empty pit deep inside of Hades’ chest had began to fill up. Until the balcony door opened..

Persephone is the first to break eye contact, and Hades felt like he was nothing without her eyes on him.

“Seph, oh my Gods, you had us worried sick!” A female voice exclaims breathlessly. Hades turns to find the twins, Artemis and Apollo. He silently wondered whether they would recognize him or not, but he hadn’t seen them since they were born. Of course they would have no idea who he was. Hades takes a step back as they rush up to Persephone without even a glance at him. “Where were you? How many times do you we have to tell you not to run off before telling us where you’re going?” Artemis says in exasperation.

“I’m sorry,” Persephone says, her big puppy dog eyes eliminating all traces of anger and worry on both of their faces. “I just came out here to talk with my friend where I could actually hear him.”

Hades raises his eyebrows at the lie, but the look on Persephone’s face eases him into just going with it. So when Artemis and Apollo turn to him, he offers a small wave. “Uh, I’m Henry.” he says, snowballing the lie even further.

While her friend’s backs are turned, Persephone grins in amusement. Artemis smiles at him warmly, Apollo glares daggers. Much to Hades’ disbelief, Artemis and Apollo buy it.

“Nice to meet you, Henry.” Artemis says politely, helping Persephone to her feet. “I’m sorry we have to take your new friend away but it’s about time we head home.”

“No worries,” Hades says, his eyes flicker over to Persephone. “Text me when you get home, yeah?”

Persephone’s eyes sparkle with excitement as she nods quickly. “Yeah.” she says softly with a big smile.

And with that, Artemis and Apollo rush Persephone back into the club.

The ride home was mostly silent, not even music played to cover up the deafening silence.

“So,” Artemis says, turning in her seat to face Persephone in the back of the car. By no means was Artemis any sort of love expert but when she had found Persephone out on the porch with that man? She had never seen such a look of sheer adoration on Persephone’s face before. Not even when Persephone was looking at her little brother. This guy was going to be important. “What’s the deal with this Henry guy?”

Persephone blushes and quickly looks out of the car window when she can’t help the smile that breaks out onto her face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“C’mon, Seph!” Artemis begs. “I need all of the juicy details!”

Persephone giggles and turns to face Artemis. “I promise I’ll tell you tomorrow,” she says, nodding her head in the direction of Apollo. “I’m so tired I can hardly think.” she lies. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. She could hardly think, but it definitely wasn’t because she was tired.

Artemis catches her drift and nods quickly, turning back in her seat. She glances over at her younger brother, who was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white.

The closest parking spot to the apartment was four blocks away. One of the many displeasures of living in New York, but Persephone wouldn’t change it for the world. Apollo dropped the two girls off at the door while he went to park the car.

“I don’t understand why he has to stay here every night.” Persephone huffs, trudging up the stairs.

“Because he’s my brother, Seph.” Artemis replies, glancing over her shoulder as she unlocks their apartment. “I just don’t feel right about letting him sleep on Hermes’ couch.”

“You feel better letting him hog my bed?” Persephone teases, following Artemis into the living room. She couldn’t get mad at Artemis for caring for her younger brother, even if he was her ex-boyfriend. She just wished they had a guest bedroom or something because FUCK she was getting sick of those big guilty eyes of his following her every move. And now she couldn’t even have her bed to herself? The things she was willing to do for Artemis.

“Can he sleep with you again tonight?” Artemis pleads, batting her eyelashes. “I know he won’t try anything because if he does I’ll break both of his hands.”

Persephone sighs. She thought about Hades, a sense of unbridled loyalty to him causing guilt to build up inside of her stomach. She felt crazy but she wasn’t worried about sharing a bed with Apollo anymore. She was worried about what Hades would think about it. “I don’t know, Artemis. I mean…” she stops and glances over at her best friend.

“Please just talk to him, Seph. I’ve never seen him so upset before. It’s tearing me to pieces.” Artemis says faintly. “I think it would be good for you both to end on good terms and get some closure. Especially since you have to see each other all the time.”

Persephone rubs one of her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right.” she says finally, heading into her bedroom. “As long as he stays away from my phone.” She didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Ares again tonight.

“Thank you so much, Seph!” Artemis says happily. “I’ll go tell him.”

“Just tell him to wait a couple minutes before he comes in so I can change.” Persephone answers. “And you’re welcome, Artemis.” She smiles weakly.

Artemis smiles back, says goodnight, and leaves the room.

Persephone sighs and gets up out of bed. She tugs her stilettos off her aching feet before taking off her dress and tossing it into her dirty clothes bin along with her bra and underwear. For pajamas, she opts for an oversized t-shirt and a clean pair of panties. In her clean clothes, she flops down into bed and pulls out her phone.

 **To H:** _i just got home, i’m in bed now (-:_

Just as she presses send, her bedroom door swings open to reveal a disheveled looking Apollo.

“Hey.” she says gently.

“Hi.” he answers, closing her bedroom door. He walks cautiously over to the other side of the bed and sits down.

“You don’t need to sleep in your clothes, y’know.” Persephone says. “Not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before.”

He chuckles a little bit and stands up. “I just don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.” he says, undoing the clasp on his pants. “I was really out of line the other day and I just don’t want to make things any weirder between us.” He drops his pants and pulls them off, followed by his t-shirt. He climbs into bed with nothing but his boxers on.

“It’s okay, Apollo.” Persephone says honestly. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you. I handled that situation poorly.”

“It’s okay, Seph. You’re not the one to blame.” he says. “Nice shirt, by the way.” He nods once at Persephone’s body.

She looks down and blushes once she realized she was wearing Apollo’s Pittsburgh Penguins t-shirt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about it. You can have it back.” she says quickly. “I can always change.”

Apollo shakes his head. “No, no. Keep it.” he replies. “It looks better on you.”

“Thanks.” Persephone says meekly. She gets under covers herself and gets settled into bed. Her phone beeps next to her. She picks it up quickly, much to Apollo’s dismay.

 **H:** _I’m glad you got home safely. Are you going to sleep soon?_

She types out a reply.

 **To H:** _yes i think so. what are you doing tomorrow?_

Persephone presses send and hoped she wasn’t overstepping any boundaries. She ached to see him again, and was surprised at herself for wanting to see someone full-clothed, sober, and in daylight hours.

“So,” Apollo says gravely, pulling her from her thoughts. “Henry, huh?”

Persephone sighs and rolls over to face him. “Don’t do this to yourself.” she says. “Don’t get yourself all worked up over this.”

“I’m not…” Apollo runs his hand loosely through his golden hair. “I’m not getting all worked up, Seph. I’m just saying, he’s a mortal. I don’t think he’s worthy of you.”

Persephone almost laughs. If anyone was unworthy, it was Persephone herself. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.” she says. “We just exchanged numbers.”

“I’m not dumb, Persephone.” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Honestly I never thought that was your type.”

“That what was my type?”

“Someone smart looking.” he laughs. “You usually go for buff, handsome, dumb oafs. Like Ares and I for example.”

Persephone blushes. “It’s not all about looks, y’know.”

“Oh, yeah?” Apollo asks in amusement. He raises his eyebrows. “Why else would you have shacked up with me?”

Persephone scoffs. “Well, it definitely wasn’t because of your blatant vulgarity.” she says shortly.

“What was it then?”

Her expression softens. “You were charismatic, electric. When you walked into a room everyone stood up to talk to you. Everyone was vying for even the smallest bit of your attention.” she says. “You could have had anyone you wanted, and you chose me. Despite your cocky and stoic facade you put on for the world, you were soft and sweet just for me.”

“I never changed, Seph. I...you know that I still love you. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop loving you. I don’t understand why you’re making this so difficult.” he says quietly, but Persephone could hear sadness rising up in his voice.

She places her hand on the side of his face, his soft stubble gently poking into her palm. “We can’t keep having this conversation. You know why it has to be like this. I gave myself to you unconditionally, and accident or not, you betrayed me.” she says placidly. Guilt ate away at her heart, but some unseen force kept her from giving into it. “I wouldn’t survive that again.”

“Just trust me! It won’t happen again. I stopped drinking, I only go out with you and Artemis, I haven’t even glanced at another woman!” he cries in desperation. He puts his hand over Persephone’s, pushing her hand tightly to his face. “Tell me how to fix this, Seph.”

“You can’t.” she says, using her thumb to brush away the tears that had began to fall from his eyes. She shushes him softly when he lets out an anguished sob. “You know that I’ll love you always, but maybe we just weren’t meant to be together as lovers. But you know I’ll be here for you, no matter what.”

Apollo seems to perk up a little bit after that, but not for the reason Persephone thought. This was the first time that Persephone had said that she loved him since they had broken up, and he had relished at the thought that there might be hope for them yet. Despite what she said, he knew he’d never be able to stop fighting for her.

“Okay.” he says finally, removing his hand from on top of hers to hold it. “If that’s what you really want.”

“I think that would be for the best.” she says, trying to hide the regret dripping from her voice. Apollo caught on quickly though, and much to Persephone’s dismay, he glances down at their intertwined hands.

“What happened to your wrist?”


End file.
